Wednesday, 30 June 2010

A Room with a View

Last Friday was my last day at school. An emotional day that concluded a fantastic and memorable year! It was a great location to work, not the least because for a year I had one of the best views in Paris. Being perched in the high side of the Seine, I never tired of the outlook from the art room that stretched across the rooftops to take in that iconic monument, the Eiffel Tower. It was one spectacular view and in the daily grind of day to day school life (which in many ways is similar the world over), a quick glimpse would continue to remind me just exactly where I was. Although its image is used to such an extent as to become almost a Paris cliché, Jules and I just love it. Not a day has gone by when we haven’t simply stared up in amazement at its perfectly proportioned ‘meccano-like’ form. It’s subtle changing colours at various times of the day and its spectacular night illuminations have remained spellbinding. We have particularly loved running around it early in the morning before the tourists had arrived, feeling that just for that moment it was all ours. It has been our beacon when we were disorientated walking the streets of Paris and a welcoming signpost that always pointed us back towards our little apartment.

The Story So Far...

On April 14 2009, we left Australia with no idea where our adventure would eventually take us. The UK was our initial destination and would be our base to work and make sojourns into Europe. It was not too long before we found ourselves sampling the cultural sights of Paris...one of our favourite cities in the world. This was quickly followed by expeditions to Italy, Greece, Turkey and Tunisia. By good fortune I was eventually able to gain a teaching job in Paris...a truly remarkable experience!! This enabled broader explorations throughout France as well as journeys to Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Britain, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Russia. Recently we made an exciting cultural shift by moving Osaka, Japan and are now having a whole new range of adventures in this fascinating country as well as exploring the Asian region.